Chronicles of Narnia : Return to the Western Wood
by OctoberOwl
Summary: A new chapter begins in the land of Narnia. The newly crowned King Caspian has ruled and peace cloaks the land. But a threat only seen to those it affects come from within. Will this treat succeed in destroying Narnia forever?  Caspian/OC
1. Narnia is Calling

Less than a year after the Kings and Queens of Old left Narnia for a third time they were called back. But this time a new threat put the land of Narnia in danger. A threat that emanated from within but was so well hidden it couldn't be seen.

It fell to one person, the last of a race of people who lived deep in the Western Woods, the first place Queen Lucy entered Narnia. This is the story of one who saved the land of many without knowing it. Will they find they are worthy of being called Royalty of Narnia or will they fall back into the ways of their people, forever lost and alone?

"Come on Annie, there's something I want to show you." A boy of nearly nineteen years called down the hall to a girl with red hair.

"Peter, be quiet. You've been here before you know the rules!" Annie whispered sneaking around passing a door that hadn't been opened in years.

"Yes but I also know something the Professor knows, and he would want you to see it too." Peter told her with a bright smile.

"Peter, the Professor said that you couldn't get back that way." A young girl followed Annie to Peter's side sounding sad.

"We've got to try Lu. I know Aslan said Susan and I couldn't go back but, I have to try."

_'There's that name again.'_ Annie smiled weakly. The name that whenever Peter, or one of his siblings, spoke it she got calming chills up her spine. She thought the feeling would disappear over time but it only seemed to get more promenade.

And with that, Peter grabbed her hand, led Annie up small flights of stairs and opened a door. Inside the room there were two things, a white sheet that had fallen from very large wardrobe.

"Peter, this is foolish." Susan's voice disciplined us from behind.

"Maybe but…" Peter started but was interrupted.

"Look!" Lucy cried surprise and wonder laced her voice heavily.

The carved red apple wood door slowly opened outward. The first thing though the door was a shiny, silver pointed end of an arrow; followed closely by a hand gripping the curved handle of the bow. Ever so slightly the rest of the bow and the arm of a person appeared. A girl, no older then Peter stepped though the open wardrobe. Her hair was blond, long and pulled back in three places, once on each side of her face with white ribbon and once in the back with twine. Her eyes were wide with fear and deep forest green, like new pine needles. Her clothes were that of thin fabric, leather and fur, a brown leather band with black beads and a feather gripped the upper part of her right arm. Her face gave away her emotions and the newness to everything around her. A light brushing of snow dusted her shoulders and head quickly melting as she emerged from the wardrobe into the warm house.

"Where am I?" The girl's voice was shaky and low, cracking several times in her short sentence.

"Put the bow down." Edmund spoke with a steady voice.

"No." The girl regained her voice sounding as if she had been in several battles.

"No one is going to hurt you here, just put the bow…" Peter tried to be reasonable but nothing was going to make the girl lower her weapon.

"Ask me again and the point of this arrow will be sticking out your back." She seethed.

"Where did you come from?" Lucy asked the fear starting to leave her voice.

The girl's eyes darted to her face, "Narnia."

"Peter, did you hear that?" Excitement flooded out of Lucy's cry. "She's from Narnia! What's it like now?"

"Where I am, it's a battle field, a war zone, but Narnia's King hasn't turned my way since taking over. I'm the only one left, my family and friends have been killed." The girl's voice was sad but her confidence had risen giving her a deadly appearance.

"Caspian would never do such a thing!" Susan's shocked voice cried out.

"Oh really?" The girl pulled the bow, aiming at Susan's heart. "Tell that to my little sister, our mother my father! To my Narnian friends who lived around us. King Caspian has more important things to attend to." Pulling the arrow back further the girl aimed it at Susan's heart.

"We can help you, we know Caspian!" Peter dodged in front of his sister blocking the shot.

The girl let up on her bow just a little and lowered it. "How do I know I can trust you?" She demanded.

"Because, we are the Kings and Queens." Lucy answered setting toward the girl. "Didn't you catch our names?"

Taking a heartbeat to think the girl nodded; Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. But there was a fifth in the room, a girl with red hair.

"Who is that then?" She asked jerking her head toward the red haired girl.

Annie's eyes widened, every bone in her body told her to scream or turn and run away. To lose herself in the large house of never ending locked doors.

"She's a friend from school, her name is Annie." Susan answered from behind Peter.

"School?" The girl answered questioningly. "Sounds like some kind of dungeon."

"She's never been and she already knows what it's like." Edmund commented with a chuckle.

"And what's your name?" Lucy asked now standing in front of the girl.

"I'm Brook of River's Deep, but you can just call me Brook." She answered with a bow. Shouldering her bow and arrow Brook turned the wardrobe. "I need your help your Majesties; Narnia is being destroyed from the inside out."

"You don't mean Caspian…" Susan started.

"No, but some of his men still believe that Narnia and its people are nothing more than ants at an outing, pests and vermin. I don't know who they are but I have to find out before Narnia is lost forever." Brook went to the wardrobe and stood in front of it putting a hand on the door. She looked back over her shoulder; the horror that stuck her eyes was like watching her sister die all over again. "I know it's hard to believe but please, I need your help. Narnia needs your help."

Peter nodded and moved forward, "We will come and do what we can."

Brook moved further into the wardrobe and watched as each King and Queen entered, Annie was hesitant at first but with a second look back at the room; she too entered the wardrobe.


	2. The Truth Behind the Wardrobe

Brook exited the back of the wardrobe and out into a mess of show covered pine branches. One after the other the Kings and Queens followed. Annie, stopped and touched the snow, braches and needles as if it were a dream.

"It's like the first time I came to Narnia." Lucy exclaimed happily.

"Only this time you've come at the end of winter." Peter pointed out. The grasses that would soon cover the ground were starting to poke though the thinning, melting snow.

"Just in time to see the ones we missed." Brook commented trekking forwarder though the slosh toward her home.

"What do you mean by that?" Annie's voice shook from behind.

"Annie!" Peter's voice rang out echoing in vast space.

Brook turned just in time to see the red head girl trip over a tree root and slam face first into a dead frozen body.

Annie gave out a quite shriek of horror and quickly crawled backwards. Peter bent down and helped her up, Annie wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

"What…what happened?" Annie asked her eyes locked with the body.

Going to examine the body Brook answered her, "Seems like one of my arrows got him." Pointing to the green feathered end of an arrow that parodied from the soldier's back.

"You killed him from behind?" Edmund asked looking horrified.

"Sometimes you shoot someone in the back when they're marching to kill your family." Brook yanked on the arrow pulling it from the soldier. Annie whimpered at the sound and buried her face in Peter's shoulder. "Come on, we have a few miles to travel."

"Do you how dishonorable that is?" Susan shrieked.

Turing on the balls of her feet Brook stared back at the Queen.

"As honorable as it is killing my six year old sister while I watched!" The green eyed warrior snapped. Turning back again Brook slipped the arrow in among the others in her quiver and moved on.

"Come on." Peter said moving forward making Annie move with him. The others made sure to stay clear of the body and any others that showed up along the trail.

Brook moved to each one, taking knives and arrows as she went. Some had leather pouches others had fur coats and Brook took advantage of them, gathering up anything she could.

"Peter, I don't like this." Annie spoke softly as Brook bent down to grab three arrows from a single corps.

"Don't worry, it's almost over." Peter whispered.

"Don't promise her anything yet!" Brook called back. "Over that ridge, it gets worse." She pointed over a small hill that hid the rest of the forest.

"I don't remember that being there." Lucy commented.

"It wasn't there a year ago, then the soldiers started digging into the mountains. What they were looking for no one knows." Tapping Lucy on the shoulder Brook smiled. "I know you've been in battles before but this is something you've never seen before. It's going to be like nothing any of you have seen before. I…I cannot prepare you for what you will see." Brook trekked on a grim look set on her face.

"Wonder what she means by that." Edmund wondered moving next to Lucy.

Brook heard Edmund and she wanted to tell them about what was to come but no words came to her mouth. She sighed and put her head down; she had seen this sight for months. Brook was there when it first happened and still, the King never showed.

Breaking over the ridge Brook stood there looking over the land without blinking. It was as if she wasn't seen what the others were seeing.

"Susan!" Lucy cried as her eyes took in the sight.

Hundreds of bodies, human and Narnian alike littered the land in piles. The soldiers had been stripped of their armor the Narnians were stripped of everything. Those with fur had been skinned, those with anything that could be salvaged had been stripped of it.

"How could Caspian not know of this?" Edmund asked shock lacing every word.

"Peter…"

"Don't look Annie." Peter's voice was calm but his posture gave away ever emotion in his body, anger, fear, doubt. It's as if he lost all hope.

"Come on Lu, let's get out of here." Susan had the same posture as Peter only she looked more threatening, as if someone had let her down.

"Brook! Brook!" A voice came from above and a shadow crossed the six travelers. A very large, dark griffin landed a few meters in front of the group he's head stretched nearly half a meter above Peters and his eyes burned bright blue.

"Jabersky what is it?" Brook asked taking the few step forward and touched the creatures feathered neck.

Bending down the griffin looked her in the eyes, "More troops, coming from South. We can't hold them; we must fall back and hide."

"No! No more hiding!" Brook yelled. Grabbing the ear of the griffin she spoke quietly. "Get Leatherback, he'll lead the Kind and Queens of Old to the hind out. From there have him get them in anything that fits, or close enough to it. You and I will go South and hold the soldiers."

"Brook that's suicide!" Jabersky cried growling deep in his throat.

"It's the only thing we can do! None of my messages have been answered and no one has returned. I'm sorry your Majesties, we don't have your armor but we will give you what we have."

"Armor or no armor this must be stopped." Edmund said still gazing at the devastation before him.

Turing his huge head Jabersky gave a loud, low call and from the sky came a smaller griffin.

"What can I do?" He asked his powerful wings keeping him a drift.

"Take the Kings and Queens and get the suited up then take them South. Brook and I will go now and do what we can." Jabersky filled Leatherback in on Brooks plan all the while Leatherback looked as if a stone was weighing him down.

"Do you not understand…" He started.

"We understand Leatherback, it's dangerous but what other way is there?" Jabersky finished.

"We could run!"

"Run where?" Brook asked. "Where else is there to run?"

A few minutes went by before anyone spoke, only the sound of Leatherback's flapping wing kept the silence at bay.

Sighing Leatherback shook his head, "Your right, but I don't like it." Landing he looked at his new traveling companions. "We need to get moving. Put them on back."

Peter looked to Annie, "Come on, he'll help you." Moving forward Annie kept her eyes down.

'_Could this possibly be real?'_ She asked blindly reaching out her hand to Leatherback's back. Warm soft feathers corrected her hand. Annie pulled back quickly.

"It's alright, he's a friend." Peter whispered.

"You just met him." Trying again Annie hopped onto the griffin's back like he was a horse.

"The little one too." Leatherback spoke holding out a clawed hand to help Lucy up. "Just don't look down the hill."

Peter moved to walk beside Annie keeping a hand on her leg. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Jabersky it's time we left." With the help of the dark griffin Brook climbed onto his back and readied her arrow. "Edmund, do me a favor and take those with you." Brook pointed to the pile of furs. "Bree is not going to be happy we left her behind."

Chuckling Jabersky unfurled his wings and took off.


End file.
